Filed under: Anne
If you enjoy our very amateur photographs of Bolivia, then we thought you might enjoy this website:
It the website of a local photographer named Eric Bauer. We are making a little mini-gallery of his work in our hallway. It gives you a wonderful flavor of how beautiful Bolivia is - the country and the people.
Filed under: Anne
We are still learning new cultural stuff about Bolivia all the time. Whenever we make a purchase in a store or restaurant, they ask for our N.I.T. and our name. We always end up saying “sin N.I.T.” or “sin nombre” to tell them we don’t need that information on our receipt. We knew this was some kind of number for tax purposes, but we didn’t really understand what it was for. We just thought they were very uptight about receipts in this country. For instance, if you buy 50 cents worth of bread at the bakery, they try to make you spell out your name and give you a handwritten receipt. It used to annoy me, but now I understand why. A couple of other teachers explained to me and Tom that the Bolivians are required to spend a certain percentage of their income or it is taken away by taxes. They must prove they spent the designated amount through their receipts. The amount they are allowed to save from their income is limited by the government. It seems crazy, in the States, it is upsetting that people don’t save nearly what they used to and here they are strongly discouraged from holding on to their money!
Filed under: Anne
I have to be honest, I am blogging because I am bored. Winter is coming, and so it gets dark about six o’clock and it gets cold. It’s not that cold outside, but without any heat or fireplace and no insulation, it’s quite nippy inside. (more…)
A new way to support the ministry…
Hey! Anne and I discovered something called Amazon.com Associates stores. Here’s a great way to support our ministry in Bolivia: if you are planning on buying something from Amazon, just go to Amazon by way of the search window here on our blog, and you can get the product you were looking for, at the price you would normally pay, plus we get a percentage (between 4-10%) of the price! So, if you buy something from Amazon, we totally appreciate you doing it through our blog! Thanks!
Filed under: Aside
Trinity Sunday… Almighty and everlasting God, You have given to us Your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of Your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see You in Your one and eternal Glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Filed under: Anne, Highlands School, News of Bolivia, Tom | Tags: Bolivia, Highlands School
Filed under: Community Group, Family, General, The Church in La Paz, Tom | Tags: Bolivia, church, Community, Group, la paz, worship
I told the folks at our monthly Community Group, “May’s meeting will be ‘bring your own worship’.” They were given an explanation, that it meant they could bring anything that they thought would build up our little body of believers. “… for the strengthening of the church” (1 Cor. 14:26 - NET)
I was given many responses, usually along the lines of, “I don’t know… I’m stuck… I’m not sure I have anything… that’s not my, um, thing, ya know?”
But, when the time came, they… well, they brought it. They really, really, brought worship!
Just a sampling: Abby (age 4) led us in “Hallelu, Hallelu”; songs of various types were shared both live and on mp3; Avery (age 4) did liturgical dance with Abby; quotes from Henri Nouwen were read; a 4th century prayer was read and reflected on (that was mine); Tim sang while his wife Whitney did a chalk-drawing of the Father carrying His weary child (see photo); testimonies were given.
In short, worship was brought and it built up Christ’s bride as she met in our living room. Amen.
If you wish to see what our evening looked like, check out an extended version of this post at my worship blog. Chau for now!
Filed under: Aside
Whitsunday: The Day of Pentecost - A Collect… Almighty God, on this day You opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of Your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Filed under: Anne, Family, Tom | Tags: Bolivia, Family, married, parenting, single
“Hey, Tom! Wanna get margaritas?” (I don’t even like margaritas! Eeeew). “No, sorry, Jason!”
“Hey, Tom! Do you and Anne wanna play Laser Tag tonight?” (I would like to!). “Nope. Can’t.”
Our single friends (and even Jason, our principal who’s a new dad!) loves to ask us - on verrrrrry short notice - if we’d like to go out. Today, I decided it was time to school them. I decided to go with the use of King James English:
“Thou art single and free to fly by the seat of thy pants. When thou marriest, thou wilt have to plan ahead. When thou parentest a child, thou wilt have to plan even better.”
That’ll show ‘em. (more…)
Filed under: Aside
Pardon the interruption; just your friendly webmaster letting folks know Fishers of La Paz is now running WP 2.5.1. If anything seems wayward, let us know. Otherwise, carry on as normal.
